A White Christmas for West Texas?

Published 11:05 am, Friday, December 23, 2011

A motorist tries to push a vehicle off the roadway on I-10 East near Sunland Park Drive in El Paso on Friday morning.

A motorist tries to push a vehicle off the roadway on I-10 East near Sunland Park Drive in El Paso on Friday morning.

Photo: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times

A White Christmas for West Texas?

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Some parts of Texas won't have to dream of a white Christmas.

El Paso awoke Friday to snow-covered roads and yards while other West Texas cities and the central portion of the state were expected to get their own snow later this weekend.

The National Weather Service reported that parts of El Paso has received between 1 inch and nearly 3 inches of snow Friday because of a storm system that came in from Arizona.

El Paso police and the Texas Department of Transportation reported some sections of Interstate 10 were briefly closed so they could be treated by work crews, and two of the city's best-known roadways and landmarks, Scenic Drive and Trans Mountain Road, had been shut down.

"We're seeing a lot of ice on the roads," said El Paso police spokesman Darrel Petry.

El Paso police and other emergency service personnel had responded to 55 traffic accident calls by midday Friday.

"We've had a lot of accidents," Petry said.

Jeff Schultes, assistant director of the El Paso International Airport, said the snowfall had caused some minor delays but no cancellations of flights.

"It's snowing but it's melting on the runways," he said. "Right now everything looks fine."

The weather had El Paso city officials close down all non-essential services, including libraries and the city museum.

The winter storm warning for El Paso was to remain in place until Saturday morning. The storm system was expected to move through West and Central Texas and bring cities in those areas snowfall by either Friday evening or early Saturday.

The National Weather Service said the Lubbock area could see up to 2 inches of snow, while the Midland-Odessa area could see snow accumulations of up to 4 inches. Abilene, San Angelo and other Central Texas cities were predicted to get up to 3 inches of snow.

Lubbock city officials said street crews were ready to begin salting operations on roadways once the weather worsened.

Most other parts of Texas, including Houston, the Dallas-Fort Worth area and South Texas, were expected to get rain on Christmas Eve with showers clearing up by Christmas Day.